Back: A Pokémon Go Musing
by Oswald Bastable
Summary: Ash Ketchum is back. Pokémon is back. A oneshot about their parallel decline, survival, and recovery; inspired by the recent Pokémon Go-centered resurgence in popularity of the Pokémon franchise, unprecedented since the times of the Generation I craze. Liberal use of the "Ash in a coma" theory and other fandom staples.


__A.N. Probably dating myself here, but I was around for the very first Pokémon craze. And trust me, kids... it was HUGE. And it was also a huge part of my, and many others' childhoods. Now, with Pokémon Go, it seems like Pokémon is really big again for the first time since then. Of course, I know the fandom has been alive and well. I should hope it has, I'm a part of it! But if you lived it, you know what the fad was like. And now, something almost as big is back. That brings back a lot of stuff. And that's what prompted this fic.__

 ** **Back: A Pokémon Go Musing****

Ash looked at himself in the cracked mirror. He had gotten older. Scruffy facial hair stained his face where it was natural, and the circles under his eyes were ever so slowly starting to become the kind that you can't sleep away. From the leaky, rusting faucet, he splashed some cold water on his face. Gone was the bright and cheery 10-year-old who was going to be a Pokémon Master.

What the hell had he become?

 _ _In a shopping mall, kids crowded to buy Pokémon Blue and Pokémon Red.__

 _ _In a schoolyard, the one and only thing anyone did was trade Pokémon Cards.__

 _ _Every day when coming home from school, there wasn't a kid from Japan to Europe, with all of America in between (and everywhere else alongside), who wouldn't tune in to watch Ash's adventures through Kanto.__

 _ _In the park, friends played at being Pokémon Trainers.__

 _ _Right there, two of them were capturing a Pikachu!__

It had been a long time since Ash Ketchum had set out from Pallet Town to capture all 151 Pokémon. Ash and Pikachu had become fast friends forever ago. Forever ago, Ash had fought many spectacular Pokémon Battles. Forever ago, he'd captured a lot of Pokémon. Forever ago, he'd thrown a Pokéball shouting "I choose you!" in his characteristically exuberant fashion.

Ash smiled bitterly. It all had been forever ago... everything was so grand, back then! He'd been so grand back then. He really had a lot of talent. He was going to be the very best, don't you know. Like no-one ever was...

Forever ago.

Then, seemingly just like that, it had all faded to nothingness.

 _ _In a thrift shop, people sell off their Pokémon Cards.__

 _ _In a board room, television executives push around the time slot for the Pokémon Anime to make room for other, cooler things taking its place.__

 _ _In a classroom, bullies make fun of the ever-dwindling number of "nerds" who still play with those "kids' games".__

Ash had been living alone for the first time since he didn't remember when. It was difficult, and he felt, but he needed it: he couldn't stay with his mother in Pallet Town, after all, not after all that... not after the Accident.

Not after being in a coma for so many years.

He needed to prove to himself he could do it.

He'd moved to this apartment in Celadon City for that express purpose. He was closer to good health care here, too.

The in-between time was a blurr. Ash had thought earlier it had faded to nothingness. That wasn't exactly true... nor was it exactly false, though.

 _ _At a convention centre, teenagers and adults meet up and discuss the intricacies of the new Pokémon types. Some are battling with elaborately planned moves on the latest console. Others talk about about how bad the anime series is. Others still download hacks and roms of Generation I, and proclaim it was the only good generation ever to come out, bemoaning the advent of such hallmarks of degeneracy as Garbodor and the dreaded Vanilluxe.__

Ash wasn't quite sure when the Accident had happened, or how many of his memories were real. It was difficult to put everything together. A lot of the time Nurse Joy had to help him through just thinking.

Had Ash been to Johto? Almost definitely. Sinnoh? Yes. Kalos? He knew it existed. At least he thought he did... did Kalos exist? Who knew...

How old was he even when the Accident happened? 10? 14? Sometimes, Ash vividly remembered it having taken place right at the start of his journey, just as he was setting off on Route 1 and a vicious flock of Spearow attacked him. But then, he'd remember Ho-oh. Ash knew what Ho-oh was, so he'd definitely been to Johto. Right?

It beat him.

Maybe it had all gone wrong that time he encountered Mewtwo. Or maybe something had glitched off the coast of Cinnabar Island...

To be honest, sometimes Ash didn't know if the Accident had even happened at all. Maybe there hadn't been an Accident, and he was just that fucked up.

Ash took a deep breath. No.

A certain peace came over him. It felt better. Peace had been coming over him a lot recently. It was a sentiment that he had grown unaccustomed to, one that he usually only remembered from before the Accident, but it was now becoming more and more frequent.

He was training again, too. Not very hard mind you. Baby steps. Some accompanied walks through the tall grass to fight wild Pokémon. Some controlled matches with local trainers.

Ash smiled again, but this time it was a good smile. His reflection smiled back at him.

The important thing was, he was okay now. Something had changed, recently. For the better.

 _ _A young professional, at his desk, is perusing the Internet. He becomes aware of this thing called "Pokémon Go". He pauses for a moment, and remembers the Pokémon Cards probably collecting dust in his parents' attic. He decides he might have to check it out.__

 _ _At home, a couple download the Pokémon Go app on their phone. They talk about the anime series they used to watch, and wonder what that Ash kid could possibly be up to now.__

 _ _A young stock broker sees the shares of Nintendo go up. Thinking of Pokémon for what still feels like the first time in years, even though she's actually downloaded the app a while back -it's a weird feeling to even be thinking about Pokémon again after so long-, she wonders if there's any good ones around her workplace.__

 _ _A college student remembers all the old Generation I Pokémon as he sees them on the screen again. The old nerds, who used to play the game, were skeptical at first, but they all finally decided to give it a go, so to speak, and he was one of them. The Genwunners, who had nonetheless followed the franchise relentlessly, are glad that they're bringing back the earlier Pokémon. Others are holding out for the newer ones to show up.__

 _ _Out in the park, a pair of these seasoned Pokémon veterans, now running around with Pokémon Go on their phones, much to the horror of the same hysterics that though Pokémon was making children stupid back in the 90s, meets a group of young kids hunting for Pokémon just like they are. The two friends share a laugh. It's an affectionate laugh, though, one filled with memories, and with no hint of malice towards the younger trainers; they'd played Pokémon in that same park at that age. Apparently, there's a wild Pikachu loose.__

 _ _Right there!__

 _ _Or, right here.__

In the end, Ash decided it didn't matter what had been real and what hadn't been; at least not for now. Regarding the memories, whether he was in a coma or not, Ash decided he'd lived it. He'd lived Johto, and he'd lived Hoen, and he'd lived Sinnoh and Unova and Kalos, and he'd lived all of them. And he'd made friends there, and they were true; true to him, at least.

But it didn't matter now. Now, he knew he was awake; and now, he knew he could make a brand new start.

Ash heard a slight rustling in the room, and turned to look.

Beside him, a small, bright-yellow electric rat with red cheeks was standing upright. Ash could have sworn he'd noticed it get thinner over the years, but now, it was nice and plump like he remembered it. Or maybe it had just always looked that way. Who knew?

Ash honestly couldn't care less; he knew what it was, and that was enough.

"Pika-pi!" Pikachu said affectionately, and with the same smile from all those years ago, it nudged its Trainer's leg and tugged his pants, just as it had done to that ten-year-old boy in Pallet Town.

Ash smiled at it warmly. He put on his cap. Same cap as always.

Ash still didn't know what would happen with those memories... And, far more importantly perhaps, he didn't know what was coming; whether the world was like he remembered it, or whether had changed completely. But he knew that he was back... he knew that something had changed in him. He knew that, for the first time God knows how long, he felt like himself again.

He hadn't felt like this since he'd been that ten-year-old boy.

Ash shaved, and dressed, and set off, the sun shining bright, to a friendly battle with some people at the local Gym. He was becoming better and better at Pokémon Training as the days went by, exponentially so, recovering capacity at a rate faster than anyone could have anticipated. At a rate worthy of his own self before the Accident.

An idea had recently formed in his head... it was far off, but he imagined he could do it. It had been far-off back in the day too.

Ash was of a mind to try and climb to the top again.

No, no. He was going to climb to the top.

And he would go even further, this time.

How many Pokémon were there to catch?

Why, all of them, of course.

What was Ash going to become?

A Pokémon Master.

It was settled. Ash breathed.

Ash was back.


End file.
